Me personaly, I respect "Boulderers" for their ability to achieve extremely difficult and some seemingly impossible moves. Sure I might make fun of it in these forums sometimes. But, I always follow up with how impressesive their moves can be.

However, I do not understand the fun behind it. My favorite part of climbing is rappelling. I climb to rappel. Plain and simple. I would just assume take the challenge of getting to the top via a vertical ascent as aposed to a hike.

If bouldering is what you love to do, then so be it. Bouldering in my opinion is not rock climbing and vise versa. Just like cricket is not baseball, and rugby is not football. Sure the principles are somewhat the same. Even though Baseball and football derived from cricket and rugby.

Don't sweat what other people say or think. If you think bouldering is rock climbing, then by god, go rock climb a boulder. Most people spoute their mouths off on the internet far more than they would in real life. I am a case in point. I have never said: "Stand up, and your halfway there." To a boulderer or group of them. I like my arms intact, and do find them somewhat useful from time to time.

I suppose I'll go stand on a stone, and call it...."Stoned" Yea baby, I am a stoner.

kalcario wrote: Yeah but the problem is, the more time you spend bouldering, the harder it is to break away from it and function at the crags when your pads and spotters are not six feet away. Bouldering might improve your physical ability to climb but, and I see this all the time when boulderers actually dare to show up at the crags, it messes you up mentally.

Yanqui writes: I've been bouldering an awful lot lately, and I was WONDERING why every time I go to do a hard crag lead these days I wind up peeing all over myself. And I thought it had something to do with the incontinence typically associated with old age.

On the other hand, all this bouldering has made my arms swell up bigger than Arnold Swarzenegger's used to be, back in the old Terminator days. Which makes me quite certain, that if I had to, I could squeeze open the head of a noodley armed crag climber as I would a ripe, old zit.

I too respect boulderers. There are some really strong folks out there and you can learn some great body movement/moves/holds that can be transferred to the wall. Although most prefer the short, power routes that the problems offer them and hey, that's okay.

Also, for those who prefer to climb the sport/trad lines - think of it this way: The more people bouldering the fewer there we be at your favorite crag.

Hey, have fun. To me it's climbing whether its called bouldering, sport, trad, or ice.

Don't get me wrong, I like bouldering, and do it on a regular basis...however, I don't have much respect for people that climb V10, at least not in the same way I have respect for Mark Twight and Berry Blanchard (sp?).

I hold Doug Scott in higher regards then Dave Graham. I probably have more respect for Peter Zabrok then Lisa Rands.

Why? Because courage earns respect, crimp strength doesn’t.

The other thing is this purity thing…anyone who has done a multi-pitch trad route in the backcountry would never say bouldering is more pure. At least to me, there is nothing better then getting to the top of a route and enjoying the gentle wind, peace, and unpolluted sound as I belay the second up with nothing but air between me and the tree tops below.

The longer the journey, the richer the experience.

However at the same time, I've done most styles of climbing, long long ass trad routes and nasty sport, but there is a place that the warriors of martial arts call "the zone", the Samurai said " It is like Sleeping but not Dreaming. in a state of stillness." This can be felt on the hardest of bouldering for me or like JGill said "moving over rock on easy moves feeling and charishing the each move for its uniqueness". My point is that when I'm on my hardest boulder projects I enter "A place of stillness" when time stops, gravity fades and the flow of pure power, energy and chaos come together in harmony, I have never felt this anywhere else, as nowhere else has pushed me into this state of mind as of yet...Even on hard ten pitch trad routes. I know others have felt this to, and probably in climbing stlyes like trad or sport were I haven't yet. And as far as respecting boulders, what about fred nicole? To have the ability to move gracefully across V14 like he's asleep, pretty impressive wouldn't you say. My .02 cents :)

People bash bouldering because they are arogant. It happens in most sports where the guy who plays the sport using xyz bashes the guy who plays using x and y but no z. Golfers who use carts are bashed by the golfers who walk the course as if that has anyting to do with the quality of their strokes or their inate ability to always pick the right club.

I am amazed that there are climbers who can't enjoy bouldering. I've gotten enjoyment from every sport and recreational activity I've ever tried: biking, skiing (snow and water), rafting, spelunking, climbing (all forms, even aid (that's a joke)), ... and the list goes on. I'd like to bash those people who can't find fun just because there is no danger or because there is less equipment to master with the form of the sport they haven't chosen.

I wonder if the water skiers bash the barefoot skiers because they don't master the techniques needed to use a ski?

Not getting a kick out of something is fine. Respecting and not respecting people you don't even know based on your perception of their fears or skills is stupid. I can't repspect or disrespect anyone I have not met. I just don't know them well enough to know what type of person, not climber, they are.

[There are plenty of us old guys who have been climbing in all forms (trad, sport, walls, bouldering, etc.) for more years than most young climbers have been alive. And guess what? Many of us now prefer bouldering to other types of climbing. So, to say that it is the old guys who are set in their ways that are bashing bouldering is, I think, a mistake.

Curt

The reason for your choice of climbing style is obvious. It is much harder to carry scotch and ice while belaying...

One, it makes rock climbing a much more accessible activity to a greater amount of people. There is very little technical expertise needed to boulder. You don't have to learn about ropes, pro, placements, routefinding, etc. -- all the things about roped climbing that take time and experience to become comfortable with. Anybody can drag a pad under a boulder and cast off. And many people resent that. I believe that for some, bouldering for the sake of bouldering is seen as the dumbing-down of a craft.

Two, a lot of the people that bash bouldering/ers aren't very good at it. It's a real ego check when you go to the gym and see a novice (who boulders exclusively) cranking some problem that you can't touch. This is similar to the ongoing crack climber/face climber battle.

Personally, I see bouldering as a tool to improve my route climbing. I do not care to boulder exclusively but I don't see the point of bashing those that do.

There are plenty of us old guys who have been climbing in all forms (trad, sport, walls, bouldering, etc.) for more years than most young climbers have been alive. And guess what? Many of us now prefer bouldering to other types of climbing. So, to say that it is the old guys who are set in their ways that are bashing bouldering is, I think, a mistake.

Curt

The reason for your choice of climbing style is obvious. It is much harder to carry scotch and ice while belaying...

I personally have nothing against boulderers or bouldering. I don't like it so much because it's a little short, and repetitive. I prefer a longer pleasure (safe possibly, otherways I'll take it as it comes )

On the other hand I don't think that a V12 is harder than an 8c, considering all the clips, the exposure and the rest involved in a climb better than a boulder.

Not to diss RC.com. I think it's a great site. One thing I've learned tough is this; Rock Climbing (or Bouldering for that matter) is generally a "shut up and just do it" kinda sport. We're all out to have a good time no matter what we climb. Seriously, go to any serious climbing spot. Whenever boulderers with crashpads walk past trad and sport guys laden with gear, the encounter usually consists of nothing more than a smile and a wave.

Now enter the websites. As I said, we are a quiet breed (no matter how hard we curse our brains out on hard routes), so it should come as no surprise that when we are armed with a keyboard, an internet connection, and pent-up non climbing time, it's only natural that threads and "gee, what should I post" threads like this come up.

Trust me, I'm a quasi-climber and a quasi-boulderer. In three plus years of climbing, I've seen tons of bashing on the net, but none at the crags.

I sport, trad and boulder. All are fun but... getting up a hard 10 foot rock just doesn't give me that sense of accomplishment, even if I've been trying it for four months. And don't get me going on sit starts! Come on, don't we all feel a little silly doing those?

I sport, trad and boulder. All are fun but... getting up a hard 10 foot rock just doesn't give me that sense of accomplishment, even if I've been trying it for four months. And don't get me going on sit starts! Come on, don't we all feel a little silly doing those?

Guess it depends on who you are man, I for one have worked problems that took longer than I will admit, however I get the satisfaction in this because I usually climb at my limit and that puts me in a mind state, a "state of stillness" , I usually do not find anywhere else but bouldering, Its kinda like dreaming but climbing at the same time. Deep and wierd, but thats IMO... :D :D

No climber should knock on any other form of climbing. Everyone is doing to have fun and enjoy nature. I love top roping and bouldering, and I'm starting to get into lead sport. But bouldering is a great way to biuld strength and an amazing way to learn new technique. Working touch boulder problems will make that 5.10 crux seem like a piece of cake.